What Strategy Actually Means with Roger Martin

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.

I'm thrilled to welcome you back to a series I did with my dear friend, Roger Martin. He's the author of the amazing book, Playing to Win. In this episode, we dissect the difference between strategy and planning.

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders who want to sharpen their thinking and make better strategic choices. If you're responsible for direction, decisions, or results, this conversation will challenge how you think about strategy.

TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…in this episode, Roger makes the case that real strategy is about making choices and accepting the trade-offs that come with them. He explains why too many organizations avoid hard decisions, how that avoidance weakens execution, and what it actually takes to build a coherent, winning strategy.

Key Takeaways: Strategy requires making clear, deliberate choices about where to play and how to win.

Avoiding trade-offs leads to diluted focus and mediocre results.

A strong strategy aligns resources, decisions, and behaviors around a single direction.

Leaders must be willing to say no in order to build something truly differentiated.

Execution improves dramatically when strategic choices are clearly understood.

WHAT I LOVE MOST…Roger's insistence that strategy isn't complicated but it's uncomfortable. The real challenge isn't intelligence or frameworks; it's the willingness to commit to choices and live with the consequences. That reframes leadership in such a practical, grounded way.

Running Time: 25:39 Subscribe on iTunes

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